Loosening the leash in Cuba

A very strange thing happened in Cuba last week: Ordinary people were allowed to buy computers.
Even though photos coming out of Havana showed crowds of people peering at what looked like pretty standard PCs, not many people, of course, earn enough money to buy a computer.
Ditto for cell phones. And microwaves and DVD players and electric bicycles. If they have the money, Cubans now can buy once-forbidden electronic consumer products. For that matter, if they can afford it, Cubans can now stay in hotels once reserved for foreigners, buy a drink at a hotel bar or use a facility's gym or swimming pool.

All of this has come about since February when Fidel Castro's brother, Raúl, took over the Communist nation in place of the ailing strongman. Despite predictions that Raúl would be worse than Fidel, the younger Castro has also loosened restrictions on farmland and private ownership of homes, and there are hints of more changes to come.
Yet the average Cuban earns less than $20 a month, and many critics say that the availability of high-end goods will make it clear that not everyone is equal in the so-called socialist paradise.
Some observers liken what is going on in Cuba to Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost policies, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, while others point to Vietnam as a more encouraging example of the economic boom that comes with more freedom.
The editorial board of the Miami Herald, however, yesterday declared that little had changed, that "torture and the humiliation of government opponents is a way of life in Cuba."
We have no reason to dispute that view, but we cherish the hope that even these slight signs of change mean better times are on the horizon for people who have suffered much.